Building block and wall construction



W, C. BARTELT.

BUILDING BLOCK AND WALL CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, I92I.

1 422 8 1 4 Patented July 18, 1922.

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rarest WALTER C. BARTELT, OF THIENSVILLE, WISCONSIN.

BUILDING BLOCK AND VIALL CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1922.

Application filed September 14, 1921. Serial No. 500,535.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TVALTER C. BARTELT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Thiensville, county of Ozaukee, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Building Blocks and Wall Construction, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to building blocks and wall construction.

It is the object of this invention to provide a wall construction using blocks adapted to form overlapping air spaces whereby heat, radiating through the wall will be intercepted by said air spaces. The ordinary block of concrete or other building material is so constructed as to provide one of more parallel air spaces between the solid portions of the block. These solid portions are usually connected by transverse spacing members or partitions which conduct heat freely between the two faces of the block. Also the heat is able to radiate freelythrough a single air space from one side of the wall to the other. The present invention is intended to correct this fault by providing a wall construction in which blocks of peculiar design are used so that the spacing members which cross the air space between the inner and outer. faces of the wall do so at an angle. In this way the heat radiating through the wall is intercepted by the overlapping air spaces and such heat as is conducted by the solid transverse portions of the wall must travel a much greater distance through the diagonal spacing members of the blocks of this invention than they would have to travel through the spacing members in a block of ordinary construction.

It is a further important object of this invention to provide a wall construction using the blocks of a form adapted to prevent the transmission of moisture through the wall. It is well known to those skilled in the art that water and dampness will penetrate the concrete wall of ordinary construction. I The water is transmitted through the wall through transverse portions of the blocks, and to an even greater extent through the mortar which is far less impervious than concrete. It is therefore an obdesigned as to prevent moisture from penetrating the wall by the provision of broken joints so that no strip of mortar extends entirely through the wall, and by the provision of diagonal spacing members, such as have already been referred to.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a block peculiarly adapted for use in the construction of a wall having the above recited insulating characteristics.

Further objects of this invention are to provide a wall construction of unusual rigidity and strength; to provide a wall construction adapted to be built up of blocks which will be lighter in weight and more easy to handle than the blocks customarily used in a wall of like thickness; and to provide such a block of regular shape whereby the wall can be largely constructed with blocks cast from a single mold.

A further object of this invention is to provide 'a wall construction using a block which can be made in a mold without a core.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of a straight sec tion of wall embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is a like view of a section of wall including a corner.

Figure 3 is a similar view including a second form of block which may be used to complete a corner or a course of blocks as needed.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

The wall embodying this invention is made up ofa series of similar units of building material, preferably concrete, which are assembled in the manner shown in the drawings. Each of the units referred to comprises a face or side portion 1 and a diagonally projecting portion 2. The members 1 and 2 are disposed at an angle of forty-five degrees. The free end 3 of member 1 is beveled at an angle of forty-five degrees, whereas the free end 4 of member 2 is formed at right angles to the face of this member.

As appears clearly from the drawings, the building units or blocks are adapted to be fitted together to form a continuous wall of a constant thickness dependent upon the size of units used. One-half or all of these units may be provided, if desired, with a finished exterior surface upon member 1 whereby the outside surface 5 of the wall may be made to resemble an ordinary concrete wall or a wall of stone, or even of brick.

It will be noted that the adjacent tiers of blocks are so laid as to break joints. The

diagonal member 2 of each block crosses,

at right angles, the corresponding member in the'block next below. Thus, the longitudinal or face member 1 is supported throughout its length upon the similar portions of two blocks in the tier beneath it, whereas the diagonal cross member 2 is supported at three points: i. e.,'upon each of the side portions of the wall and at the middle. The end t of a block which has its face upon one side of the wall does not project into view upon the other face of the wall, but rests in the angle between two adjacent blocks in the same tier. ,A wall made up of these units will not, therefore, present an exterior appearance different from a wall of standard construction.

When a corner is reached in the laying of a wall embodying this invention, it will be found possible to arrange the blocks in the manner shown in Figure 2, whereby a right angle corner is made in the wall without the use of any different type of block. In the next tier of blocks, however, wherein the individual blocks are off-set onehalf the length of a block from those in the tier below, it will be found necessary to use a special corner unit such as is indicated at 5 in Figure 3. This unit has no diagonal member but comprises two face members (3 and? joined at right angles and provided at their free ends with the angular faces 8 adapted to abut against the diagonal face of an adjacent block. A similar member 5 may also be used to complete-the end of a tier in the manner shown in Figure 3.

It will readily be seen that the advantages specified inthe objects of this invention are attained by the construction described and shown herein. The diagonal members 2 are of far greater length than would be a transverse member such as is found in a wall'of ordinary construction and equivalent thickness. Moreover, the fact that the diagonal members cross each other at the middle of the wall and diverge upon I either side of the point of intersection contributes greatly to the rigidity of the struccorner members 5 must be finished upon two sides, but comparatively few of these members are needed.

An important feature of this invention is the fact that no mortar joint extends through a wall of the construction herein disclosed. Moisture which penetrates a mortar joint at the outside of the wall must travel a great distance through the material of the several units or must cross an intervening air space before encountering the mortar joint at the inner face oftlie wall. Since mortar is far less impervious than concrete or other wall known building materials of which the units here shown may be constructed, it is obvious that in thus breaking the mortar joints I- have succeeded in overcoming the greatest objection of a built-up wall.

As has already been pointed out, not only are the mortar joints broken in a wall embodying this invention, but the spacing ele ments of the units are diagonally disposed, thereby presenting a much greater distance which must be traversed by moisture seeking to penetrate the wall.

Attention is now directed to the construction of the individual units. It will be noted that these units are left open at their ends and therefore require no core in the ordinarily accepted use of that term. Each unit comprises merely two straight members oined at an acute angle. These units are, therefore, unusually easy to manufacture and are correspondingly cheaper than the concrete blocks of the usual construction. Moreover, the work of assembling a wall composed of these units is made easier by reason of the fact that each unit weighs approximately one-half ofwhat a rectangular block to construct a similar wall would weigh.

Having described my invention and shown that it accomplishes the objects specified, I claim 1. A building unit comprising two integral members, the marginal edges of which conform in outline to the sides of an isosceles the exterior face of the'shorter member.

3. A building comprising two members of unequal length integrally joined at an angle of forty-five degrees, the shorter member terminating in a face at right angles to its sides and the longer member terminating in a face gncluded 1n the plane of said first mentioned ace.

4t. A wall including a plurality of similar units, each of said units including a member forming'apart of one face of the Wall, and

an angularly disposed arm supported adjacent the opposite face.

5. A hollow wall including a plurality of similar units, each of said units including a face member and a diagonally disposed arm integral therewith, the exterior surface of each face member being disposed to form a part of one face of the wall, and said arms being supported at their ends upon the face member of a unit uponthe opposite side of the wall.

6. A hollow-Wall including a plurality of similar units, each having a face member and diagonal arm, the face members being laid up in spaced tiers, and the ends of diagonal members being supported invisibly upon opposite face members of a lower tier.

7. A hollow wall including two rows of superposed tiers of building units, each unit including a face member built into one row, and an angularly disposed arm supported upon a lower tier of the adjacent row.

8. A hollow wall including two rows of superposed tiers of building units, each unit including a face member built into one row, and an angularly disposed arm supported upon a lower tier of the adjacent row, the arms of the units of one tier being disposed at. right angles to the arms of adjacent tiers in successively supporting relation.

9. A Wall including a plurality of V- shaped units conforming in plan outline to a right-angle isosceles triangle, the hypotenuse side of each unit being presented outwardly, forming one side of the wall, and the di- Vergent member being disposed diagonally across the wall and supported upon each side thereof.

10. A wall including a plurality of V- shaped units conforming in plan outline to aright-angle isosceles triangle, the hypotenuse side of each unit being presented outwardly, forming one side of the wall, and the divergent member being disposed diagonally across the wall, supported upon and supporting oppositely extending members in adj acent tiers.

11. A wall including a plurality of V- shaped units conforming in plan outline to a right-angle isosceles triangle, the hypotenuse side of each unit being presented outwardly, forming one side of the wall, and the divergent member being disposed diagonally across the wall, supported upon and supporting oppositely extending members in adjacent tiers, and the ends of each divergent member being invisibly supported upon a member at the opposite side of the wall.

12. A wall including a plurality of V shaped units conforming in plan outlines to a right-angle isosceles triangle, the members of the units comprising the hypotenuse sides thereof being laid up in two series of tiers, and the divergent members of the units being disposed between the series with their ends built into a tier of the series opposite to that in which their first named members are built.

WALTER C. BARTELT. 

